The unsuitability of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as a political leader has been discussed for long.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is garlanded during an election rally in support of party candidate Amita Singh (L) in Amethi on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

The unsuitability of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as a political leader has been discussed for long. Consider this remark he made today during an election rally in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. “First time I witnessed, a PM comes and says Hindustan is dirty, I am going to meet Obama ji, you all take the broom and do the cleaning. One the other side, our friends from press clap, saying what an interesting thing he has said,” Rahul said.

In politics these days, mocking opponents has become a norm. But then, it pays well to a leader if the jokes have some context and make sense. By mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ programme, all Rahul managed to expose is his own intellectual bankruptcy. For everyone in the country knows that cleanliness is one of the biggest issues affecting India and if a PM talks about it, everyone should cooperate, not mock the very idea. Rahul could have won more political currency if he had himself taken a broom in his hand and inspired Congress workers to clean all parts of the country on their own. In public life, cleanliness was an idea propagated and practised sincerely by Mahatma Gandhi. Though Rahul bears the surname of the Mahatma, he doesn’t have the wisdom to understand how cleanliness can also be turned into a political weapon.

Even as Rahul’s leadership has shrunk the Congress to almost to the level of a regional party in the last 2-3 years, party leaders have never dared to question his wisdom, forget leadership. However, probably for the first time, one of the seniormost Congress leaders, Sheila Dikshit, has said it publicly that Rahul is still, ‘immature’ and he will take some time.

In an interview to The Times of India, Dikshit said one should remember that Rahul is “still not mature, his age doesn’t allow him to be mature”. One doesn’t know what made Dikshit make this remark about Rahul. For the record, Rahul is already in his 40s. How many years does a person need to become mature? Secondly, Dikshit was earlier declared as the CM candidate of Congress for Uttar Pradesh. She had taken her claim back after the Congress entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, which is also led by a young leader Akhilesh Yadav.

During the interview, however, Dikshit tried not to stir a controversy, by further clarifying that Rahul has come a long way. “He is not yet Prime Minister because that opportunity will come later but he is doing things.”

Congress leaders’ inability to question their leadership is shrinking the party across the country. And one finds some logic in BJP president Amit Shah when he asks as to why Congress wants to force Rahul on the country. “Sheilaji, entire country accepts that Rahulji is still immature. But why are you forcing him on Uttar Pradesh,” Shah said while addressing a rally in Azamgarh on Friday. Here is a question, Congress must answer for itself at the earliest.